Tech

WD TV Play: A World of Digital Media for $70

There's a whole world outside that cable TV box, full of apps and streaming video and media files by the millions. Western Digital's new streaming set-top box, called WD TV Play, lets you navigate that wealth of content, giving you an enormous amount of media for $70.

It's a cinch to set up. It has Wi-Fi as well as Ethernet connectivity built in, so if you don't have a wired connection nearby, the Wi-Fi performs just as well. Once you've connected to the Internet, plug in your TV via HDMI and you're off and running.

Unlike its competitors such as Roku and Apple TV, the WD TV Play lets you play a variety of files from a connected USB drive, or from computers or servers on your home network. There are limitations, though — unlike the WD TV Play's more expensive brother, the WD TV Live, the Play doesn't have enough power to access SMB shares from your network. It does fine with any DLNA device.

What this means: some files on your network will play, others might not.

What about open-source MKV (Matroska) files? It turns out some of them will play. For instance, most of my test MKV files played when connected to the unit via the USB drive, but some, such as those with the higher-bit-rate H.264 5.1 profile — wouldn't play over the network via DLNA.

The bottom line: if you want to play all MKV files, get the WD TV Live, not this WD TV Play. And if you want to play multichannel surround sound digital output, you'll need a receiver that can decode that, because this box doesn't have the processing power to do so.

On the plus side, I was delighted to see that the WD TV Play can play high-resolution FLAC music files. There's a long list of what this box can and can't play — take a look at this chart of supported formats, courtesy of Western Digital:

This box has improvements over the WD TV Live that make it more user-friendly. Its interface has been streamlined, letting you move your favorite apps all onto one screen. Take a look at it in the gallery below — it has a clean Windows 8 look to it, with various tiles allowing you to select the service you desire.

Even though its less-powerful processors were selected to reduce costs, performance is snappy, taking you from one screen to another much quicker than the WD TV Live can. Its remote has also been improved, with gently rounded edges, a slimmer profile and easier-to-push buttons. I also liked the dedicated buttons for Netflix, Vudu and Hulu Plus, which get you get directly to the streaming service you want.

One drawback of this box, and others from WD, is the awkwardness of their transport controls. There's nothing like the TiVo jump-forward button. Worse, with some types of files, all you can do is pause and play. With others, you can shuttle forward and backward, but it's awkward and slow. There were so many times I wished I could just jump back or forward by a few seconds with one button push, but that's not possible. How hard could it be to program such a thing?

So if you're looking for an attractive and reliable box for playing back Netflix and Hulu Plus content, the WD TV Play is an good value. It has an improved and responsive interface, better remote, and it plays nicely with your network. It offers a cost-effective way to get Netflix and other apps, photos and music onto your TV — if you can live with its limitations.

WD TV Play Review

WD TV Play, at your service.

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Top View

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

USB port on the side

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Back: HDMI, Ethernet, Optical audio, A/V-out

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Check out that blue bottom

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Blue pilot light

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Great new remote

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Improved user interface

Here's the Home screen, where you can populate it with your favorite apps.

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

All My Apps screen

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

All My Apps screen 2

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Digging deeper

The interface doesn't look quite so snazzy when you get into the file level.

No can do

Certain types of MKV files would not play. However, Western Digital's WD TV Live box -- which costs about $30 more -- can play most of the files that its little brother can't.

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Shows you all the files on your server

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Access either network or local USB storage

Photos by Mashable/Charlie White

Music playback

To my delight, it can play back FLAC audio files. Alas, there was no album art for this one.

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